


Caed Nua B&B

by ohlawsons



Series: cat nua [14]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Modern AU, but it's modern day eora and magic and soul shit still exist, everyone's human i guess?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 21:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14341092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlawsons/pseuds/ohlawsons
Summary: Caed Nua Bed and Breakfast has something of a reputation -- it's an old, beat up series of buildings once run by the elusive Maerwald, with rumors that the whole place is haunted. But then it falls into the hands of one Neria Eleri, and she's determined to fix it up with the help of her old college roommate, Kana.Just... ignore the enchanted guestbook calling itself The Steward and going on about the ancient evil in the cellar.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so. this happened on accident as a prompt fill for @pillarspromptsweekly and i got attached.

She drives by in a beat up Chevy, a dull red pickup that squeals to a stop amidst a cloud of dust out in front of his house. He’s never seen her before, but that’s no surprise lately, with as many new faces as Gilded Vale’s seen in the past few months; land’s cheap, and Edér’s willing to bet that’s what’s drawn her to the Dyrwood.

The driver door creaks open and slams shut, and the noise catches the attention of Penelope, the cattle dog sprawled at Edér’s feet on the porch. Her ears perk up, and she gives an ear-piercing bark as the newcomer walks into view; Edér’s first thought is that he wouldn’t mind a woman like her sticking around, and his second thought is that she looks absolutely miserable in the midday heat. She’s in a dark tank top and cutoffs, with long wind-blown curls that cascade down around her bare shoulders. She gives him a little wave and a bright smile as she approaches, stopping a few feet away from the porch.

“Would you be able to point me in the direction of town?” she asks, holding a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. “I got a bit turned around and it’s been like thirty miles since I’ve gotten cell service.”

He returns her smile and points down back the way she’d come from. “’bout five miles down, it’ll be the first left after the gas station. It’s a straight shot after that. New in town?”

She looks down with a wry little grin, kicking at the dirt and sending up a spray of dust around her hi-tops. “Yeah. I sort of… inherited some property. There’s this old bed and breakfast about twenty minutes down the road — Caed Nua.” She pauses to frown, staring off to her right. “I don’t know how much tourism Gilded Vale gets, but a friend of mine talked me into giving it a shot, so,” she shrugs, “if you’re looking for a premier stay-cation spot, I’ve got rooms open.”

The revelation piques his interest; Caed Nua’s been essentially abandoned for years, as far as Edér knows, on account of it’s reputation as Gilded Vale’s most haunted house.”That’s Maerwald’s old place, ain’t it? S’posed to be haunted. Ghosts in the foyer and footsteps in the attic and the like.”

“ _Trust me_ , I’m well aware.” She rolls her eyes. “The friend who talked me into this, Kana? He’s _really_ into local folklore. I mean, even back when we were roommates in college, he—” She stops mid-sentence, jaw going slack and eyes widening with an empty, unfocused stare. Edér watches for a moment, curiosity quickly turning to worry, before she snaps out of it just as suddenly. “ _Fuck_ ,” she breathes, the word shaky.

“You alright?”

She’s staring down at Penelope, now, her expression one of confusion. “Uh, have you ever heard of Watchers?”

He follows her gaze down to where his dog is still laying beside him, and Penelope’s tail begins to thump happily against the porch as he watches her, trying to determine what _Watchers_ have to do with her. “Guess you’re _real_ new in town,” he observes with an easy smile. “Most folk ‘round here don’t appreciate any sort of talk about soul magic.”

She turns back to Edér, jabbing an accusatory finger in his direction. “Yeah, well, _your_ dog was _my_ cat in a past life, and I didn’t ask to read her soul in the first place.”

“Hey, I don’t have a problem with it,” he assures her. “’Specially not when it means there might finally be someone around that the rest of the town hates more than _me_.”

“Oh, _great_.” The fire in her voice seems to have waned, and her shoulders drop as she crosses her arms. “Anyway, thanks for the directions. And the heads up. And seriously,” she adds, taking a few steps backwards towards the truck, “come check out Caed Nua. It’s gonna be pretty amazing once it’s all fixed up, and I’m extremely broke and really need this to work out. So. Stay-cation. Bring your friends.”

With that, she slams the door to the drivers’ side and the engine roars to life, dust trailing behind her as she drives off towards town. Edér watches her disappear, then turns to look at Penelope, wandering what exactly was in her soul and if the Watcher would be sticking around.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh My God They Were Roommates: the platonic neria and kana edition

He's out drinking with Hiravias when he first notices the sign.

It's just a modest little poster hanging up in The Black Hound, showcasing a vintage style photo of Caed Nua and some cheesy slogan about a home away from home. “Hey,” he says with a chuckle, nudging Hiravias and tipping his beer towards the sign to point at the name, “think I know her.”

“A creepy old house?”

“Not the place, the one runnin’ it.”

Hiravias cocks his head to the side as he inspects the poster, then turns back to Edér with a wide grin. “When you say you _know_ her, just how well are we talking?”

Edér rolls his eyes and ignores the suggestion. “She got lost headed out of town,” he explains, pausing to take a sip of his drink. “I gave her some directions back to Caed Nua, is all. Said she’s fixin’ it up. ‘Course, she also said she’s a Watcher, so who knows how long this all will last.” He shrugs, as if to further prove his point that he’s not at all interested in the place or the woman running it, no matter _how_ much Hiravias smirks and pries.

But the druid’s staring at him, now, squinting up at Edér with his good eye. “She got lost,” he repeats, voice filled with doubt. “How? There’s nothing on that side of town except you, the old church, and Caed Nua.”

“Hey now,” Edér cautions cheerfully, “we’ve got a gas station, too.”

“You’re right, it’s probably the _fourth_ building that tripped her up.” He shakes his head, then turns to look at the poster with a thoughtful frown. “Do you think it’s really haunted?”

Edér knows Hiravias is likely as interested in the woman in charge of the bed and breakfast as he is in any spirits that may be there, but Edér has his own reasons for wanting to visit so he shrugs and follows his friend’s gaze to the sign. “Only one way to find out.”

* * *

 

“Sorry in advance about the menu. I can’t cook to save my life and Kana’s really only good for baking.”

The wizard, nose buried in a book, sets the tome aside and places his hands in his lap. “I don’t mind. I’m certain it’s better than anything they served in town,” he assures her with an earnest smile. “My experience here so far has been tremendously more pleasant than the other inn.”

“Huh. Hear that, Kana?” Neria calls over her shoulder as she sets down the plate she’s holding, a large platter piled high with various pastries. “I definitely appreciate it,” she says with a grin of her own, pulling out one of the heavy wooden chairs to sit across from Aloth. “It can’t be much of a surprise that you’re sorta our guinea pig here. Honestly, I’m just glad it doesn’t seem to be as bad as back when me and Kana lived together in college.”

“What was so bad about college?” Kana asks as he enters the dining room, carrying another platter of pastries. “I mean, _besides_ the diet consisting solely of cheap takeout, that is.”

“Cheap takeout, cheap beer, I slept on one of those pullout couches until you went off to grad school…” Neria lists off, counting on her fingers as she speaks. “Not to mention the time we tried to actually do a nice dinner for the girls we were seeing and discovered we didn’t actually have a matching set of _anything_ in the kitchen.”

“There were two of us, and one ate primarily pizza over the sink, so we never had a reason to use all of our plates at once.”

“Don’t make me bring up the tie incident.”

With a loud, genuine laugh, Kana joins Neria at the dining table, already reaching for one of his homemade donuts. “Alright, you win. College was awful and Caed Nua is a testament to how far we’ve come.”

“Thank you.” Taking one of the chocolate muffins for herself, Neria turns back to their first and only guest. “So, now that we’ve revealed just how incompetent we are — I really appreciate hearing we’re doing alright. Just let us know if you need anything,” she offers through a mouthful of muffin. “And you said something about the inn back in town. You been in Gilded Vale long?”

“Just a few days, really,” he says with a small smile. “I only recently finished up school myself, in Aedyre.”

Kana lights up at that; it isn’t that he holds Neria’s status as a college dropout against her, but as a former civil engineering major she’s hardly the sort for the intellectual debates her fellow Rauataian is so fond of. “Ah, Aedyre. It’s no lore college, I’m sure,” he jokes with a wide smile, but I’ve heard wonderful things about the universities up there.”

Aloth nods politely, clearly not too thrilled about now being the focus of the conversation. “Yes, I had a good experience there.” He clears his throat, picking apart the muffin on his plate. “I haven’t heard much about the lore college.” Some of his tension seems to fade as Kana takes the cue and launches into an eager retelling of graduate school, a story Neria’s familiar with so she interrupts every so often with forgotten or overlooked details.

Halfway through Kana’s one-sided argument about the Tanvii Ora Toha, a bell chimes throughout the house, and it takes Neria a moment to realize it’s the doorbell. “Got it,” she calls, pushing back from the dining table and half-jogging to the front door. “Welcome to Caed Nua Bed and Breakfast, thanks for stopping—” Her words trail off mid-sentence as she swings the door open and finds herself facing the blond farmer with the creepy dog, the one who gave her directions a few weeks ago. “Hey! You decided on a stay-cation,” she guesses.

He mirrors her wide smile, but before he says anything the man beside him — shorter, close to Neria’s height, with scruffy red hair and a stylized eye-patch over one eye — holds out a hand to shake. “We’re here for a tour.”

“Right. Gotcha.” She does her best not to appear _too_ disappointed. “Well, I’m Neria Eleri, and my partner in crime is Kana Rua. He’s back in the dining room, y’know, with a paying guest, enjoying our luxurious breakfast.”

The shorter man scoffs. “This place smells sweeter than a delemgan’s blooms. It’s probably all muffins and coffee cake in there. Nothing good and substantial.” He crosses his arms and there’s an edge to his voice, a challenge that Neria can’t help but rise to.

“What can I say? We cater to the tastes of our paying guests.”

“That’s good news for you, Hiravias,” the farmer says with a grin, clapping him on the back. “See, he’s thinkin’ about staying here so he doesn’t have to keep crashing at my place, but he’s worried about the rumors that Caed Nua’s haunted.”

“Ah, I see,” Neria says with mock sincerity. “Well, there’s an enchanted guestbook that says some great evil lives in the cellar, but if you’re wandering about seeing ghosts and hearing footsteps in empty hallways, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.” With a wide grin, she ushers the two back down the front steps and shuts the door behind her. “But let me give you a tour of the grounds. We’ll start over there, with the Brighthollow Guest House.”

* * *

 

They end the tour back at the main building, and Neria’s pretty sure she’s sold at least Hiravias on the idea of staying for a few nights. She pulls out two business cards — it’s odd and _official_ but hey, they have her number on them and that’s the important part — and hands one to Hiravias. “In case you’re interested a room.” The other card, she hands to Edér. “In case you’re interested in drinks.”

 


End file.
